Mine...yours

Author's Note: Yes, I have been away for a while, hardly even checked my messages. Work during the holidays takes up a lot of my time, and I got a bad case of the flu on top of it all. Thank you all for your encouragement. Not too sure how I felt about the death threats. Though...the descriptions have given me ideas for other stories! :-) In any case I am glad to be back to writing and here is the next installment of Mine...Yours. Please leave me comments and tell me your thoughts, I enjoy reading them.

Sincerely,

PB

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Chapter 25: Father

With the clouds now out of sight, the regular cloud cover seemed kind of comforting, like a dark grey blanket that softened sound. Kind of made it humid, but with the cool air it didn't feel too muggy. I saw Lucretia totter a little on top of the roof. She bent her knees and crouched lifting her tail for balance to stop herself from stumbling. I jogged into the house and went up the stairs to pop out of my bedroom window. I carefully made my way over the rain slick roof to where Lucretia was standing, with a tired smile on her face.

"He saw me!" she said happily. I put an arm around her shoulder and glanced in the direction the storm clouds had gone.

"Your...papa?" I asked. Ordinarily I would have said dad or father or something like that. The whole pyrotechnic display with lighting and so forth made me decide to ere on the side of caution. She nodded. Full of information this one! Just overflowing with answers to all the questions I have!

Sarcasm...

"Ready to get back downstairs?" I asked.

"Sit with me?" she returned.

"Not on the roof...downstairs sure."

"Okay." She said quietly and we went back downstairs and sat on my old couch.

She fidgeted with her fingers, while I looked at her. I wondered how she was dealing with being struck by lightning. I mean, the Guinness world book of records recorded one guy who has been struck like seven times in his life. I wonder if his wife felt safe walking outside with him? Did he make her stay at least 50 feet away at all times? I mean, he must really need to change his cologne or brand of clothing if it attracts electricity like that. Does it make him really good at changing light bulbs? I wonder if his job was as an electrician? Wouldn't it be ironic if...

"I don't get to see my father very often, he spends more of his time here on this Plane than he does in my own." Lucretia told me. I nodded, waiting for her to continue. She stayed quiet. Why was she being so reticent to speak? What...is she embarrassed of her dad? Or should I call him father? I guess dads who are present in their kid's lives get called "Dad" and the ones who aren't get relegated to "Father." Is that why she looks uncomfortable? Did Lucretia not have a good relationship with him or he was...?

"I used to play with him when I was young. He was always around for the first..." her voice trailed off as she squinted her eyes in thought and counted on her fingers then she continued.

"...five years of my life. Soon after I reached adulthood he began to avoid me. He never avoided me if I went looking for him, but he never came looking for me." She finished.

Huh...so the first five years he was around, okay. The formative years in any child's life no matter what the species, is important for mental and emotional development. That doesn't really...wait a minute!

"I'm sorry, did you say the first five years of your life he was around, and then he became distant when you reached adulthood?" I asked.

"Soon after, but basically...yeah." She replied.

"What about the years between five and when you reached adulthood? Wasn't he around for that?"

"I don't understand the question...there are no years between that!" Lucretia said incredulously.

"Look, human kids start going to school around age 4. They go to kindergarten and then the next 12 years of their lives is spent between going to school and going home. When they reach the teenage years they might get jobs or other stuff and then when they either reach the age of 18...they are considered adults."

Lucretia now looked really confused and held up her hands for me to slow down.

"You mean it takes 18 YEARS for a human to become an adult?" She said in surprise, almost like she didn't believe it.

"Technically...yeah. Though the term adult is kind of...well...huh. Let's just say I have met some 40 year olds that still can't be considered adults." I grinned at my little joke, it seemed to go right over Lucretia's head as she rubbed her chin.

"For most of us, we reach our mature size and come into our full abilities after five years. Is it really that different for humans?" She asked curiously.

I was flabbergasted. "You mean you went from this size..." I held my arms out like I was measuring a baby. Then I indicated her sitting across from me. "...to this size in the span of five years?"

She nodded.

"Well, you must have had some incredible growth spurts then." She didn't seem to hear me.

"To have all of that time! 13 extra years to learn, experience and grow! I could have done SO much in that extra time!" She appeared almost giddy. It also made me curious, and then I had a thought.

What was her world like? She had touched on a couple of things here and there, but I had never really asked her about it. I felt kind of dumb to tell the truth, here I am with a being from another plane of existence, and I never thought to ask her about her home! Yeah, something is definitely not working right! I felt an echo of agreement from within me and grimaced. I hadn't visited my Door in a while. Ever since getting tossed around by...whatever that was in bandages, I had been kind of leery of doing any kind of meditation. I knew that wasn't a smart way to go about doing things...but then again, I have never really been anyone's definition of what being smart is.

Just as I was about to ask about her home Lucretia began to yawn. "Bedtime?" She asked. I nodded and she got up from the couch and walked to the base of the stairs. I didn't get up and Lucretia noticed this. She turned to question me.

"You are not coming?" She asked.

"In a bit, got some thinking to do first." I replied.

It looked like she wanted to say more. Instead she dipped her head and smiled. "Join me soon, Master."

I gave her a lopsided grin and shooed her away negligently with one hand making her giggle. When I couldn't hear her footsteps anymore I sat down on the floor and crossed my legs so they were comfortable, leaning my back against the base of the couch. I settled my breathing into an easy rhythm, and shortly after, I felt my perspective shift inward.

Down the spiral staircase I walked and upon reaching the cold basement floor in my mind's eye I walked towards the Door. I came to the first words of Mother's weird benediction, of sorts, and studied them all again. The three words in raised lettering on the floor, and the last one inscribed on the Door itself, I noticed a big difference in one of them.

The first word was all crumbled, only a shadow of what it had been remained!

"Don't worry about it Greg!" that voice called out from the Door. I turned my attention to the speaker and I could see his bloodshot eyes staring at me with a strange desire. Either to cause me physical harm or...no idea, just strange. I walked closer, avoiding the ruin of the first word and watching the man at the view slot. I glanced around. No linen bandages waiting out of sight to snag me at this monster's whim. I shook my head at myself...if it was out of sight then how in the world could I see them!?

"So...Gregory? You still want to let me...out?" The being wrapped in bandages asked with a chuckle and a hideous grin.

"You ready to tell me who you are yet?" I answered back. It bothered me. Well a lot of things bothered me, but his weird sense of humor was right at the top of my list! The others that were locked away all seemed intent on getting back in with me. This one, this aspect of who I was...am...whatever!

This one seemed content to be where he was, and just observe me. Like he was carefully weighing and measuring my every move or choice..

"Why do you think it's funny? Being locked in there, what's so amusing to you about it?" I asked, my mouth tight with annoyance. He just laughed and it made the short hair on my head stand on end!

"Why did you lock us away, Gregory? Was it because we made you feel? Was the pain of her betrayal so great that you had to separate yourself from us?" He asked.

I ignored the question. "Why are the words that were engraved here dissipating?" I asked. He sighed and shook his head.

"I really don't care, but I will tell you if you answer my question." He grated out.

"Fine, answer my question first." I demanded.

A bandage long and thin drifted out to stir the remains of the word like a child idly tracing a finger in the dust.

"The Mother came and I watched as she created the words from the essence of your cell. They respond to the changes in you, as they fade so does your cell..." The bandage caressed the second word that was there.

"...as you change, so does your little world, and your view of it." The bandage snapped out suddenly and tightened around my wrist!

"Now answer MY question!" He shouted.

I let my power flicker to life and it stretched the bandage from around my wrist and I slipped out of its grasp. I gave the bandaged man a smirk and he just smiled wider!

"YES! You are learning!" He chortled. It sounded like someone was beating on a wet half inflated basketball!

"In answer to your question? Yes, I locked you all away, to keep that pain from driving me insane. If I hadn't, every single slanderous remark from the police, my probation officer, and all the rest would have been a fresh wound. It was too much to handle so I locked it away, and I didn't mean to put you all in with it, but it happened and I am sorry for it." I said.

Then a thought occurred to me. "My sense of Justice and Truth didn't seem to be affected too much by it. That means..." My voice trailed off as a sense of horror filled me. I turned to look at this unrecognizable aspect of myself and I suddenly realized. This aspect of myself that was twisted beyond all recognition, this damaged...oh God in Heaven! I didn't, I wouldn't really...No!

It began to laugh, an insane high pitched laugh that made my chest ache and my blood freeze!

"That's right! You put it ALL on me! You locked me away and wrapped it all on me! What do you think this is?" He screamed and pulled at the white cloth wrapping him from head to toe.

"Day and Night whether asleep or awake, sitting or standing it burns and aches every second of every hour. I have no rest and no comfort only this pain that you have sentenced me to!" He suddenly slammed his face against the Door his eyes filling the view slot and his voice rang out like a bell making the whole place vibrate.

"WHAT DID I EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS!!??"

Then he went quiet, and the silence itself was just as deafening as when he was screaming at me.

I wanted to say something...I just didn't know what to say, I had never been in a situation quite like this before. I didn't need to speak, the bandaged form began to talk again.

"There are a couple of things that make this situation funny to me, to answer your question Gregory." I saw movement behind the door and I began to move closer to keep this hidden aspect in sight.

"The first is, that you don't remember locking me away. The second is thinking I want to go back inside where you are. I have enough hurt to deal with already to do that to myself."

Go back inside...what?

"Do you mean being let out...what do you mean back inside?" I asked. Those eyes appeared suddenly in the slot, filling my vision, but for once no fear or concern touched me as I stared into those reddened orbs. I guess I really was changing.

"Your perspective is so skewed! You made a cell to lock away the aspects of yourself that registered that pain...you never thought...you never realized!" He began to laugh again, a sad despairing sound.

"You felt so much better letting in just two aspects of who you were, and you think I am the ONLY one left?" He continued to cackle and I began to feel that another secret was going to be coming, and I wasn't going to like it very much.

"You made that Door and thought we were all trapped behind it, in reality...

"YOU LOCKED YOURSELF AWAY FROM US!"

Then those eyes moved from the view slot and for the first time the light dimmed and I got a glimpse of a vast area, more of a feeling than actually seeing. I also felt hundreds of pairs of eyes looking back at me. It gave an impression of being in an outhouse in the middle of a field and you feel you are all alone, then when you open the door to step out you realize you're in the middle of a crowd.

The red rimmed eyes came back again.

"So you see Gregory, why would I want to lock myself in a tiny little cell with you? WE are all out here waiting for you to re-join us!"

With those final words the viewport slammed shut and the floor beneath me seemed to buck under my feet tossing me to a sitting position. I closed my eyes and grimaced from the shock. When I opened them again I was sitting cross legged on the floor with my back against the couch.

"Well...Damn!"

How do I process something like this? What do I do now? I had always known I was broken...ever since the judgement came down against me when I knew I was innocent. That does kind of make someone doubt their sanity! It's hard to explain to a lot of people how it feels, most don't seem to get it, no matter how hard I try to explain it so they understand. I sort of gave up, except for a few individuals, I just stopped telling my story.

Most don't seem to care either way.

I thought of my first meeting with Lucretia and her Mother, and how they took the information. They didn't seem to care either except to them it was all foolishness since they could tell the truth. How strange that an Outsider, someone not from this world is able to tell what is a lie when the normal inhabitants of my own world could not do the same.

All of this thinking wasn't going to help me now, at any rate. It was now time for me to get some shut eye.

I climbed the stairs to my room after using the bathroom to freshen up. I could hear the low rumble of thunder in the distance and looked out of the window to see if the storm was returning. I couldn't really tell anything so I finished brushing my teeth and as I said before...went upstairs to go to sleep. The moment my head rose a little above the floor of my loft bedroom I felt eyes on me, but much more distinct. It wasn't like before when I couldn't tell where they were coming from, no...this came from over by the wall. It came from an absolutely massive black form with black eyes that seemed to have a bit of shine to them. That shine was the only thing that allowed me to differentiate the eyes from the uniform black of whatever this thing was.

"Greetings..." said a voice.

It was low, like the thunder I had just heard before, and carried a richness to it that was...well, for lack of a better word and I hope you will excuse the pun...electrifying.

My initial feeling was fear, followed by a weird mix of curiosity and anger. Curious how he got in, I mean...obviously a he with that voice and all! Though it could be a she for all I know I mean, can't women have deep voices that make your body vibrate when they talk? They could and if I ever meet one I am definitely going to reserve judgment. However until that time I am going to go with my initial thought that this thing is a dude!

Anger decided to make its presence known as I opened my mouth...

"Really? You broke into my home and entered without asking and show up in my room and the first thing you say is that? How about saying you're sorry for entering without my or Lucretia's permission? Better yet, how about marching your ass to the door and then knocking or ringing the doorbell first? I would probably have let you in anyway even if you are...so...really...damn you're huge!" I finished.

Truthfully I wasn't scared anymore. I got used to telling if people wanted to do me harm or not, this...thing definitely didn't give off the "I'm gonna hurt you!" vibe. It seemed more of a "Wait and see..." kind of vibe.

The eyes turned and I still could not see him very well. I could tell I only came up to where his chest might be. Looking away from me, over at the bed where Lucretia lay sleeping, well she appeared to be starting to wake up from all the noise I had been making. The being moved closer to my friend and I was wondering what he or she was doing when a large hand the size of my head and an arm as thick as my leg extended towards her! Before he could do what I think he was going to do...actually I had no idea what he was going to do I just could not imagine it to be good, I stepped in front of that arm and my shield came up. The eyes narrowed and then I felt a pulse of warmth envelope me.

It was an odd sensation, like a warm blanket that muffled my vision, hearing, even my sense of touch! Experimentally I touched my chest, and even the sensation on my shield was diffused and fuzzy. It also made me feel sleepy and my eyelids drooped. I was having a hard time standing. I looked over at Lucretia and she had settled back down on the mattress and contentedly sighed. I saw the being's large hand gently brush her hair and run black fingers over her cheek. The thought of my bed with a soft succubae to cuddle with sounded so good to me... I started to turn when that same hand as black as used motor oil encompassed my entire upper arm. I looked down at it and wondered where it had come from. Slowly it led me away from the bed and then...the feeling vanished.

I blinked a couple times and shook my head to clear the cobwebs. Actually, from how fuzzy I felt there must have been some dust bunnies amongst the cobwebs as well! The hand let go of my arm and now I was face to...um...chest? Face to chest with this mountain of blackness that was peering down at me in curiosity.

"I apologize for not asking permission to enter your home..." It began. I raised up my hand to stop him from speaking. Still upset, but obviously it didn't seem to want to harm me...yet. Also, I figured it's always better to make sure visitors knew where they stood. That was why I was about to correct him.

"Actually you are only half right," I told him. "It's actually not just my home, its Lucretia's as well. So it's OUR home." I put the emphasis on the word to make sure he picked up on it. From the way his eyes widened and the pleased feeling I got from him I must have said the right thing. His eyes looked back at my sleeping succubae and they seemed to grow...luminescent?

"You give her partial claim to your home?" He asked quietly. I nodded. "You are different...not what was expected." The voice rumbled as the eyes turned back to me.

"You have me at a disadvantage, mind telling me who you are?" I asked. "While you are at it...maybe change or show me what you are?" I added, letting some of my irritation leak out in my voice.

Slowly the black began to coalesce around the eyes, and a face began to take form...but what a face!

Sharp cheekbones and full thick black lips and a rounded dome of a head with no trace of hair, not even eyebrows or eyelashes. Powerful shoulders with muscles upon muscles covered by a thin dark purple vest that highlighted the ripples of his abdominal lines. He also did have that ridiculous "V" at the bottom of his six pack that guided the eyes down to...the waist band of...are those...what is he...?

He was wearing baggy silk pants that looked straight out of...and those shoes were...pointed with curled toes? I did a double take, then a triple take. He looked just like he had stepped out of an old Arabian Nights movie set! I wanted to laugh at him, but there was something...